


Huck and Stephen - Unwanted

by lopingloup



Series: Huck and Stephen [6]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Broken Bones, Gen, Hurt, Hurt No Comfort, Original work - Freeform, Suicidal Thoughts, Violence, Whump, beaten, borderline but huck's really feeling bad, prisoner
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:22:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26157988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lopingloup/pseuds/lopingloup
Summary: Huck finds that being alone is worse than anything.
Relationships: Original Character & Original Character
Series: Huck and Stephen [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1892587
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	Huck and Stephen - Unwanted

**Author's Note:**

> new one, here we go. heads up, this is a(n especially) heavy one <3

Pet was conscious as the men hauled them carelessly down the street, slung between two of them with their paws dragging over the abrasive ground, the leash dangling from their collar. They whimpered in pain, lacking the strength to stay awake, let alone walk.

There was another car, and Pet was shoved into a dark compartment at the back and the door slammed down so fast they almost didn’t tuck their broken tail away in time. As far as they could remember, they’d only been in a vehicle a handful of times but Pet was beginning to loathe cars; nothing good ever happened in them, or at the other end.

But it could be worse. At least here in the dark, Pet was left alone and could mewl softly to themself without fearing a kick to the side, or strangers’ hands in their fur. The car juddered and shook beneath them and Pet whined. The leftover taste of alcohol, stomach acid and blood in their mouth was making them feel ill, and they were as bruised as if they’d been pushed down a flight of stairs. The side of their head ached where Harrison had smacked it into the car console, their ribs were throbbing from the men’s’ boots, and every tiny motion jarred their tail. Their ears were sore from being tugged at and their throat raw and chafed by the leash still hanging limply from their collar. Pet just wanted to be home.

 _Master, I’ll be better, I’ll be better_ \- they pleaded silently, as if Master Parry could hear them. Would he even care they were gone? He’d been so glad to go away on business, and get away from them. But he’d told Harrison to give Pet back in one piece, so maybe Master hadn’t given up on them. Not entirely.

They slid, somehow, into a half-wakefulness, which they were painfully jerked out of by a too-bright light shining at them out of the dark and a hand grabbing their arm. They were dragged roughly out of the boot and Pet flinched, whimpering. Dropped onto damp concrete, they were too exhausted and pain-ridden to even consider running.

It was completely dark except for the blinding torchlight, with no bright signs or buildings or too-loud vehicles in sight. Pet pressed their eyes tightly closed and whined, trembling as a cold breeze threaded its way through their sweat- and blood-damp fur as the ground dug its cold fingers into them.

 _I’m sorry, Master, I’m so so sorry. I’ll take the cane, the crate, anything, Master. Anything. Just please come. Please take me away from here_. They tried to fix Master’s face in their head, tried to picture his response to Pet being returned. Maybe there would be just a little relief in his stern expression, and maybe he’d rub Pet’s head between their ears, even for just a moment. He’d be angry, too, of course, but maybe- maybe-

A hand slapped them hard across the face and Pet yelped, jerking away before they froze, curling themself down into the smallest shape they could manage with their damaged ribs.

“Still with us, beastie?” The male voice came from the too-bright light being shone in their direction. It could have been Kieran but Pet wasn’t sure.

They squinted against the bright light, unsure whether an answer was needed. They nodded shakily after a second, ears pressed down.

“It understands! Not so dumb as you look.” The voice chuckled. Pet just hunched down, struggling to keep their eyes open, even as terrified as they were. Everything seemed slightly out of focus and blurry at the edges and the way the bright light was swinging around didn’t help how sick they felt.

“Alright, dump it in the basement.”

Pet was wrenched up again and the sharp movement made their stomach roil. The alcohol surged up and they retched painfully, the acid scouring their throat. The hands that had grabbed them dropped them roughly, so that Pet landed hard on their sore paws and swayed, coughing. Their tail felt aflame with pain. They coughed, whined softly.

“Disgusting. It reeks of booze.”

Another kick in the rib and Pet was knocked sideways to the dirt, their claws scrabbling weakly, eyes streaming. The flashlight was jerking around sickeningly, illuminating men’s shoes or boots and the ground but not much else. Pet’s faceless torments hung over them as shapeless, threatening, evil.

Then a hand touched their head and they flinched. _Leave me alone!_ they wanted to yell. _Please please please-_

But the hand smoothed down their furred back and shushed them. Like Master Parry did or used to do, when they were being too loud while he was trying to work, though Master barely touched them anymore. Pet managed to suck in a shallow breath, whining softly at the pain in their sides. They pulled in a breath, and another. A new light appeared and moved over them, making Pet cringe, their eyes narrowed.

“It’s not worth anything if you fuck it up even more,” a new voice said from above them, low and hard. Pet tensed, hunching down in the dirt like they could burrow right under the surface and disappear.

“You carry the filthy thing then, Ry.” It was definitely Kieran’s growl that came from the left and Pet cringed away. “Killjoy,” Kieran muttered, before the sound of his boots crunched away into the blackness, taking his torchlight with him. Several others went with him, so that it seemed to just be Pet and this new man, Ry, left alone. Pet couldn’t stop shaking. Exhausted, cold, in pain. Terrified.

The man, Ry, sighed. “Alright, beastie, c’mon then. And don’t think about clawing me, ‘kay?” The light was shined on Pet again and they flinched away. “Hey, nod or something if you hear me alright?”

It took Pet several seconds to both understand what the man wanted and to force themself to nod. They wouldn’t claw a human- well, they never had before tonight. No wonder this new man, Ry, didn’t trust them. Pet would’ve reassured him that they wouldn’t do that, but talking wasn’t really for the likes of them and they’d been bad enough already tonight, so they kept quiet.

Being picked up hurt so much that Pet was left crying and breathless with it, squirming helplessly, but they were beyond grateful that Ry wasn’t rough with them. When they moved out of the open space and through a narrow door, he was even careful not to knock their limp, twitching paws into the doorframe.

The darkness out here was absolute, with only Ry’s torch lighting the way, and Pet had never felt anything like it. It scared them, that there weren’t lights in the distance, signalling the presence of other lives going on around them. Even when they’d been locked in Master’s houses for months, there was always lights out in the dark they could look at through the window. Here, they felt terribly, achingly alone.

Ry took them into a huge building, bigger than anything Pet had ever seen, though it felt completely abandoned. The parts of it that Ry’s light illuminated were thick with rust and dust, and there seemed to be a number of strange metal contraptions and machines, which loomed eerily over them as Ry picked his way through. The wind keened through the space and the metal creaked, making Pet flinch. They huddled slightly closer to Ry’s warm solidity.

By the time Ry shouldered his way through another door, their silent crying had dried up. It wasn’t that Pet was in any less pain or any braver, but exhaustion had taken over, and their mouth felt grossly sticky and parched. They could still taste blood, and alcohol, and longed for nothing more than to scrub the lingering foulness away, scrub it all away until Pet felt clean and good again, rather than filthy and broken and worthless. Ry descended a flight of steps, each one jolting Pet and making them whimper.

“Here we are.”

Pet sniffed and wrinkled their nose. It stank like damp and bodily filth and they didn’t want to be here. But even as they tried to curl their paws in Ry’s jacket, they couldn’t stop Ry from putting them down and gently tugging himself free of their grip. He straightened up once they were on the dirty concrete, lying on their side beside a wall, and they couldn’t see Ry for the brightness of his torch, pointed as his feet.

“You’ll be fine. Just be good and stay here, understand?” Pet didn’t react. “Understand?” Ry pressed.

Pet gave a tiny. Painfully, achingly cold and scared, they couldn’t even get up to follow Ry when he walked away, taking his light with him. All they could do was whine, soft and desperate, wordlessly pleading with him not to leave them here. Ry’s footsteps stopped half-way up the steps and Pet’s hopes lifted briefly, soaring when Ry returned, his torch light bobbing.

There was a rustle of fabric and Pet flinched as Ry came close to them. They braced to be picked up but no, a jacket warmed by Ry’s body was laid over them.

“It won’t be long.” Ry almost sounded apologetic.

This time, Ry walked away for good, no matter how much Pet whined. They flinched at the sound of a door clunking shut at the top of the stairs, and then the silence was unsettled only by their soft whimpers and pained breathing. The jacket was a blessed warmth but the concrete’s cold seeped through their fur and they trembled, fighting fear so thick they could taste its sourness.

When Harrison and his friends had taunted and tormented them, Pet had wanted nothing more than to be alone. When Master was in a truly foul mood and Pet couldn’t get out of his way, they’d sometimes wished Master would disappear. When they’d been caught by Kiaran’s men, all they’d wanted was for the men to _go away_. Now Pet had gotten what they wanted, and the emptiness was more awful than anything.

Curling up as tight as their damaged ribs would allow, Pet succumbed to the never-ending darkness and cried themself to sleep.

*

Pet didn’t know how much time passed. A slither of murky light poked under the door at the top of the stairs in daytime, and disappeared at night. It didn’t matter. Pet was in too much pain to get up, let alone climb the stairs, and so they just lay there. The door was locked, anyway. Breathing was exhausting, their ribs a sharp, stabbing pain.

The man, Ry, had promised to return soon, but Pet was used to humans lying to them. And only their growing, aching thirst told them how much time had passed. Strangely, they didn’t long for Master Parry anymore. Instead, they thought of Alyse and her kindness and imagined her finding them, imagined her fussing over them, allowing them to curl up at her feet somewhere warm and cosy while she petted between their ears. It was a wonderful fantasy. Pet just tried to think how they’d never see her again, might not see anyone again. Sliding into unconsciousness was their only relief from their sandpaper-throat and swollen tongue.

*

The next time they were awake, there was movement around them and Pet groaned. Their head swam groggily and when a hand was put under their head, they could barely flinch, let alone pull away.

Wetness at their lips stopped them from trying to curl up and protect themself and instead focus on drinking as much water as they could. But they were barely given a few mouthfuls before the bottle was withdrawn and Pet could’ve cried. They whimpered, pleading wordlessly, and forced their eyes open.

A man knelt over them as he screwed the bottle lid back on. Pet stared at it, licking their cracked lips. But the man, who had a mop of unruly brown hair and weathered skin, just tucked the bottle away and smiled thinly at them.

“You can’t drink too fast, you’ll get sick.” He spoke like Pet was a pup. “Do you understand me?” Pet made themself nod and the man seemed pleased by that. “Good. Hold tight, we’ll get you out of here soon.”

The man stood up and Pet cringed back when they realised how very big he was. But the man just walked away, his torch’s beam bouncing in front of him, and Pet swallowed thickly. Their thoughts felt sluggish and seeing a number of people with torches flashing around didn’t alarm them as much as it probably should’ve, nor did they feel any great sense of relief.

Maybe they’d finally accepted that they could do nothing. That humans ruled their life; always had and always would, and Pet controlled nothing, no matter how good they were or how goddamn hard they tried. But they knew that being bad, being useless and ugly and injured would make everything so much worse.

So Pet couldn’t find it in themself to be grateful to these people for finding them. Master Parry wouldn’t want them back when they looked like this, and nothing good ever happened to unwanted creatures.

**Author's Note:**

> am i evil or am i evil tho


End file.
